Pregnancy leave has catches

A: The U.S. says new parents -- both moms and dads -- get 12 weeks. Unpaid.

But the federal Family and Medical Leave Act does not apply to about 40 percent of nongovernment employees, according to a 2000 Department of Labor study. An organization must have at least 50 employees, and workers must have worked at least one year and 1,250 hours to qualify.

For many small-business employees, part-time workers or new hires, tough luck. Those not covered by the FMLA must depend on company policies.

But for many working-class families, taking unpaid leave is difficult and often impossible, said Ann Bookman, executive director of the MIT Workplace Center.

"You really have to be a middle-class professional to be able to take unpaid leave," she said.

A government report from 1996 found that only 32.3 percent of workplaces not covered by FMLA offered up to 12 weeks of leave to parents of newborns. A further difficulty is that family leave is often granted on an informal, case-by-case basis in companies too small to be affected by FMLA.

"Look at your employer's policies," said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families. "Look at what's happened with your co-workers. Sometimes that can help you negotiate something that would be advantageous for yourself."

Even at companies that do offer leave to new parents, fathers get less. Women can take advantage of disability leave because of pregnancy, which men cannot claim.